Good polling news, for a change

A new Quinnipiac poll provides needed good political news for folks like me. It finds that in the key state of Ohio, Hillary Clinton trails, or is in a virtual tie with, the leading Republican presidential contenders.

John Kasich, Ohio’s popular governor, crushes Hillary, 54-37. Marco Rubio also does well, winning the head-to-head 47-42. In addition, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump top Clinton by 46-43 and 44-42, respectively.

The margin of error in the survey is 2.5 percent. Thus, Trump is in a virtual tie with Clinton. But that’s better than one might have expected, given the prevailing view that Trump would almost surely lose to Clinton.

Matthew Continetti disputes this view in a piece in the Washington Free Beacon called “Seven Reasons Democrats Should Be Terrified of Donald Trump.” In my view Democrats hardly need be terrified of Trump as a general election candidate, but neither should Republicans conclude that Trump has little chance of defeating Clinton. (Whether conservative Republicans should be terrified of a Trump presidency is another question).

A Clinton-Trump race would, in my view, be very much up for grabs. I’ll probably have more to say about this in an upcoming post.